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British Cherries, which oversees more than 70 per cent of the nation’s production, said: ‘We’re thrilled that British cherries continue to be such a popular choice for the consumer and hope this continues for many years to come. We’re also hoping for more warm weather over the coming weeks as this will help to produce a large crop of delicious cherries.’

Demand is still high for Bramleys, in part due to the popularity of The Great British Bake-Off. But according to trade organisation English Apples & Pears, the Bramley crop is down from 16,500 tons last year to an expected 14,500 this season.

A shortfall of 2,000 tons is predicted because falling prices persuaded growers to ditch the variety in favour of more lucrative crops

Growers are not making enough money from them so pulled up many trees to make space to grow other crops.

Prices paid at the farm gate for cooking apples fell from 81p per kilo to 61p per kilo last year.

Adrian Barlow, CEO of English Apples & Pears told trade publication The Grocer: ‘Bramley apples are unique to Britain and are an iconic product with brilliant taste and texture. For cooking, no other variety comes near it.

‘We want to see a return which is sufficient to provide money for continuous investment and a reasonable standard of living for growers.’

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Apple production falls because they're too cheap to make profits for farmers